A research design is proposed: (1) to examine the characteristics of neighborhood environments of the noninstitutionalized elderly and (2) to determine the effects that the neighborhood environment has on social relations of the noninstitutionalized elderly, with a major focus on racial differences. Research by urban sociologists on the general population over the past decades provides the ecological models to be used in this research. Data collection will proceed at two levels: abstracting 1980 census data on areal units and a survey of black and white elderly residents of Jefferson County, Kentucky. End products of the research will have two general applications: (1) urban social theory will benefit from the specific application of its models to the noninstitutionalized elderly population, and (2) social gerontology will benefit from the synthesis of past research in urban sociology with current issues in the social relations of the aged.